Women’s rights activist: ‘Politicians in Libya see women as a kind of set piece’

In early July, as many as six women were murdered in one weekend by relatives who felt the victim had damaged the family’s honour. So much brutal violence is symptomatic of the situation in which Libya finds itself, believes women’s rights activist Laila ben Khalifa (1957), who became the first woman to run for president in the presidential elections last year. They were canceled at the last minute. There is no indication that the elections will be held any time soon.

“We are in a downward spiral,” she says by telephone from the capital Tripoli. “And that is the fault of the political elites. The country is doing badly economically and there are many political tensions. I hear stories of violence that I never thought possible in Libya. Brothers who kill their sisters; recently a son killed his father.”

According to Ben Khalifa, people have “become emotionally worn out by successive civil wars and conflicts since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The stretch is out.”

The violence is not limited to the domestic sphere: in the past six months, both the United Nations and Amnesty International published alarming statements about human rights violations against atheists, LGBTQI+ and women activists.

“Salafist militias are taking advantage of political and economic instability,” said Ben Khalifa. “Libyans are open to anything at the moment. The Salafists have money and their message sounds to some as an answer to the problems. For almost a year now, the ISA, the Internal Security Service, has been led by Lotfi al-Harari, the former leader of a notorious Salafist militia involved in torture, kidnappings, and disappearances. Since then, the ISA has been targeting anyone it considers ‘bad’ citizens.”

More pessimistic

Ben Khalifa sounds more pessimistic than at an earlier meeting in January at a hotel in Tunis. “The gender equality mindset in Libya has changed for the better over the past decade,” she argued. “Women are gaining more power and influence, and that movement is irreversible.”

Armed fighters who kidnapped, murdered or threatened female activists and politicians engaged in rearguard action, she said. “It’s a kind of muscle language. They want to show how strong they are. But essentially those groups are incapable of accepting social change,” she said at the time. Militias, she said, “really only ridiculed themselves” because they would feel threatened by the growth in the number of women in positions of power.

Do you think differently now?

“I see mostly hypocrisy. Libya is changing fast. On the street you see people openly using drugs these days. Alcohol is officially banned, but the black market is booming. At the same time, the mentality of young people is different: much more open than before. Salafists try to maintain their power at all costs.”

To the outside world, it seems that the situation of women in Libyan politics is deteriorating. In Libya, for example, after the 2011 revolution, a legal quota of at least 30 percent women in parliament was imposed. But this minimum was lowered to 16 percent last year.

What do you think this means?

“It means above all that Libyan politicians see women as a kind of set piece, not as decision makers and full political partners. We are deliberately opposed. For example, all my proposals in the field of economics and security have been brushed aside, purely because of my gender. This all happens in backrooms. I don’t want to participate in that.

“The stereotypes have to be broken. In 2011, women were in the firing line of the revolution and are fully active in society. They do well in influential roles, founding organizations, and contributing in any way they can. But you don’t hear or read about that. The position of women in Libya in 2022 is incomparable to that of ten years ago.”

What do you think this change in gender equality is reflecting?

“I am thinking, for example, of the labor market. More women are working outside the home than ever before. There are also many female entrepreneurs, new initiatives are springing up like mushrooms. Although, to be honest, this is often also out of economic necessity.”

“But thinking changes. New generations think differently: polygamy, for example, is less accepted than it used to be. Incidentally, there are large regional differences. In the south, where the position of women was already strong anyway, you see less drastic changes.”

“The problem lies with politicians and the media. They linger in patriarchal ideas while society moves on. I am the leader of a political party with almost all men and I travel everywhere. To the people I speak to, whether they are from the north or the south, I am a politician like any other.”

“However, the political institutions that have been created since the Arab Spring of 2011, from the parliament to the government and the prime minister, are not moving. They all face a huge legitimacy problem. Everyone is in conflict with everyone else, and the citizens are fed up. Women and young people should finally have the floor.”

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